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Southern Indiana

Geographic and cultural region of Indiana, United States

Summary

Geographic and cultural region of Indiana, United States

Field	Value
name	Southern Indiana
image_skyline	{{multiple image
perrow	1/2/2/2
caption_align	center
border	infobox
total_width	300
image1	EvansvilleSkyline.jpg
alt1	Skyline of Evansville, Indiana
caption1	Evansville skyline
image2	HickoryRidgeTower-NW.jpg
alt2	Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area in Hoosier National Forest
caption2	Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area in Hoosier National Forest
image3	Sample Gates, Indiana University Bloomington, 2010.jpg
alt3	Indiana University Bloomington
caption3	Indiana University Bloomington
image4	Log Cabin at the Lincoln Living Historical Farm.jpg
alt4	Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
caption4	Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
image5	North Christian Church, designed by Eero Saarinen, Columbus, Indiana LCCN2013650704.tif
alt5	North Christian Church
caption5	North Christian Church in Columbus
image6	Indiana's Historic Pathways - Looking at the George Rogers Clark Memorial - NARA - 7719562.jpg
alt6	George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
caption6	George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
image7	Towboat Ben McCool upbound on Ohio River with two tank barges (1 of 6) 87j082.jpg
alt7	Ohio River near Harrison County
caption7	Ohio River near Harrison County
image_map	Southern Indiana.PNG
postal_code	470–478
area_code	812/930
population_total	1,386,568
population_as_of	2020
settlement_type	Region
timezone1	Central
timezone2	Eastern
coordinates

Southern Indiana is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern third of the U.S. state of Indiana and borders the states of Illinois to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Ohio to the east. Spanning the state's southernmost 33 counties, its main population centers include Southwestern Indiana (anchored by the city of Evansville), the Louisville metropolitan area (south), and the Cincinnati metropolitan area (southeast). The region's history and geography have led to a blending of Southern and Midwestern cultures, distinct from the rest of the state. It is often considered to be part of the Upland South and the Southern influenced Lower Midwest.

The Wabash forms the region's western boundary and Ohio forms the region's entire southern and the majority of its eastern boundary. Elevation ranges from around 360 ft above mean sea level at the rivers' confluence to 1060 ft at the highest point in the Knobstone Escarpment. Southern Indiana's topography is considerably more varied than Central and Northern Indiana, including large tracts of forest, rolling hills, and karst caves. The region is also home to the oldest exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world at the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area. Situated in the Wabash Valley seismic zone, Southwestern Indiana is at elevated risk for earthquakes.

Southern Indiana, home to about 1.4 million people, was the first area of the state to be settled by European colonists. Founded in 1732, Vincennes is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Indiana and served as the first capital of the Indiana Territory; Corydon would later serve as the state's first capital. Aside from Wayne County, all of the pre-statehood and most of the state's oldest counties are in Southern Indiana. Protected areas include Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Hoosier National Forest, and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. Southern Indiana is home to about a dozen higher education institutions, including Indiana University Bloomington, the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. The Catholic Church has a significant presence in the region, including Saint Meinrad Archabbey, the Monastery Immaculate Conception, and Mount Saint Francis. The region is split between the Eastern and Central time zones.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Indiana

Sub-regions

Kentuckiana

Main article: Kentuckiana

Kentuckiana, a portmanteau of "Kentucky" and "Indiana", is a loosely defined sub-region of the Upland South that spans north-central Kentucky and Southern Indiana's south-central counties. It is primarily centered on the Louisville metropolitan area. Counties typically considered part of the Kentuckiana sub-region include:

Clark
Crawford
Floyd
Harrison
Jackson
Jefferson
Jennings
Orange
Scott
Washington

Southwestern Indiana

Main article: Southwestern Indiana

Daviess
Dubois
Gibson
Knox
Martin
Perry
Pike
Posey
Spencer
Vanderburgh
Warrick

Southeastern Indiana

Dearborn
Decatur
Franklin
Ohio
Ripley
Switzerland

South Central Indiana

Bartholomew
Brown
Greene
Lawrence
Monroe
Sullivan

Time zones

Main article: Time in Indiana

Southwestern Indiana observes Central Time, including Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, and Gibson counties. The rest of Southern Indiana observes Eastern Time.

Dialect

Southern Indiana also differs from the rest of the state linguistically. Southern dialect and South Midland dialect of American English are prevalent, as opposed to the Inland North dialect in far Northern Indiana and the North Midland dialect in Central and North-Central Indiana. Southern Indiana is the northernmost extent of the South Midland region, forming what linguists refer to as the "Hoosier Apex" of the South Midland dialect.

Educational institutions

Southern Indiana is home to IU Bloomington, the flagship campus of the Indiana University system, recognized for its academics and [[Indiana Hoosiers]] athletic program.

About 12 accredited institutions of higher education are located throughout Southern Indiana, including some private, liberal arts colleges and multiple public university campuses, including the flagship campus of the Indiana University system, IU Bloomington. The "‡" symbol indicates universities with main campuses outside Southern Indiana.

Public

Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Columbus
Indiana University Southeast
Ivy Tech Community College (12 sites)
Purdue Polytechnic Institute‡ (three sites)
University of Southern Indiana
Vincennes University

Private

Hanover College
Indiana Tech‡ (Jeffersonville)
Oakland City University
Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology
University of Evansville

Sports

Professional sports

There are two professional sports teams in the region, both located in Evansville – the Evansville Thunderbolts (founded in 2018) play ice hockey, and the Evansville Otters (founded in 1995) play in baseball's independent Frontier League.

College sports

;National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Indiana Hoosiers (Monroe County)
Evansville Purple Aces (Vanderburgh County)
Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (Vanderburgh County) ;National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II
Oakland City Mighty Oaks (Gibson County) ;National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III
Hanover Panthers (Jefferson County) ;National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
IU Southeast Grenadiers (Floyd County) ;National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
Vincennes Trailblazers (Knox County)

References

Madison, James H. (August 28, 2014). [https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/the-story-of-us-indiana-history-hoosiers The Story of Us]. ''Indianapolis Monthly''. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
Mack, Justin L.. (March 8, 2019). "Looking back at Indiana's complicated relationship with time: Why Indiana observes daylight saving time". The Indianapolis Star.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

regions-of-indiana

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